Holster for revolver



Jan. 7, 1969 E. J. CLARK HOLSTER FOR REVOLVER.

Filed May 51, 1967 v INVENTOR 4, J Kali( Arma/6V' United States Patent O 8 Claims ABSTRACT F THE DESCLGSURE A holster to hold a revolver having a handle and a cylinder has an inner side wall offset to form inner shoulder means which has a normal position in engagement with the rear end of the cylinder to retain the revolver in the holster and said side wall has an extension adjacent the handle of the revolver that may be flexed outwardly by thumb pressure to shift the shoulder means out of its normal position. The shoulder means is rounded to permit cam action by the cylinder on the shoulder means once the release movement of the shoulder means is initiated by thumb pressure.

Background of the invention It is highly desirable that a holster for a revolver be provided with manually releasable means to retain the revolver and thus keep the revolver from accidentally falling out of the holster and, additionally, make it difficult for anyone other than the user to jerk the revolver out of the holster. When a revolver is carried in an upwardly pointed position by a shoulder holster, such a -releasable retaining means is not merely desirable, but

is absolutely necessary to retain the revolver against the force of gravity.

One objection to many types of prior art means for retaining revolvers in holsters is that metal latch members are employed and the repeated engagement of the metal latch members with the revolvers defaces the surface finish of the revolvers. Examples of such metal latch members are found in Anderson Patent No. 468,556, Franz Patent No. 1,842,936, and Ray Patent No. 2,088,811.

A more serious disadvantage of prior art devices is that the user may inadvertently fail to retract the retaining latch suiciently to free the revolver and in an emergency such a failure may have fatal results. This disadvantage is inherent in any latch device that requires substantial manual movement to reach a point at which it actually frees the revolver, the revolver being positively retained until the latch member is shifted to an advanced point. It is commonly thought that such an extensive release action on the part of the latch member is essential to avoid inadvertent release of the revolver and thus insure that the revolver will not fall out of the holster. Each of the three above-mentioned patents discloses a latch member that releases the revolver only after substantial manual retraction.

Audley Patent Nos. 881,044 and 996,694 both disclose latch members that have leather surfaces for engagement with the revolver andthus both disclosures avoid marring the linish of a revolver. Unfortunately, however, both disclosures have latch members that positively retain the revolver until the latch member is retracted by a substantial distance from its normal latching position.

The problem solved by the present invention is to avoid this disadvantage with safety, i.e., to provide a latch means releasable with exceedingly little manual displacement without incurring the risk of inadvertent release of a revolver from a shoulder holster. Merely making the latch highly sensitive so that only relatively little retraction of the latch completely releases the revolver, is obviously unsafe and far from the solution to the problem.

Summary of the invention Broadly described, the invention solves the problem by providing a latch means that normally retains the revolver in a positive manner but will, nevertheless, permit forceful withdrawal of the revolver when the latch means is only slightly retracted from its normal position. The partially retracted latch member is capable of withstanding the weight of the revolver by a liberal margin to keep the revolver from falling out of the holster, but the user can easily pull on the revolver with enough force to override the partially retracted latch member.

This highly desirable release action is accomplished by providing a latch member that is shaped and dimensioned for cam-actuated release action by the revolver itself once the latch member is only slightly retracted from its normal position. Thus, normally the revolver cannot be pulled free from the holster, but once release action of the latch mechanism is merely initiated manually, the revolver itself is capable of completing the release movement of the latch member by cam action. Thus, the latch member is sensitive in the sense that only slight retraction of the latch member makes possible forcible manual withdrawal of the revolver from the holster.

More specifically described, an inner side wall of the holster made of leather or leather-like material is offset to form inner shoulder means that is normally in a position `overhanging and engaging the rear end of the cylinder of the revolver for positive retention of the revolver, and a tongue-like extension of the side wall is adapted for exure by thumb pressure to retract the inner shoulder means. The inner shoulder means is of sloping configuration for cam action thereon by the revolver cylinder once retraction of the shoulder means is manually initiated. Thus, if in an emergency the applied thumb pressure is merely suflicient to initiate retraction of the latch member without actual release of the revolver, the revolver may nevertheless be forcibly pulled free from the holster.

One reason for the normal positive latch action of the inner shoulder is that the leather-like material has a high coefficient of friction with respect to the metal of the revolver. A related reason is that the slope of the inner Brief description of the drawings In the drawings, which are to be regarded as merely illustrative FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a holster embodying the invention with a revolver therein shown in phantom;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a leaf spring that is incorporated in the holster;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the holster with the revolver shown in phantom;

FIG. 4 is a transverse section along the line 4 4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to FIG. 3, showing the revolver and the users thumb in phantom, the view showing how thumb pressure moves the revolverengaging shoulder means out of its normal retaining position; and

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the holster with the revolver and the users hand shown in phantom, the view indicating how thumb pressure retracts the revolver-engaging shoulder means.

Descrpton of the preferred embodiment In the drawings, a revolver generally designated R is shown in phantom, the revolver being of a well known type having a handle 10, a barrel 12, a rotary cylinder 14, a trigger inside a trigger guard 16, and a thumb piece 18 which is operative to release the cylinder to permit the cylinder to swing outwardly for a loading operation.

The disclosed holster for the revolver R includes a single piece of leather which is looped or folded on itself to form a first side wall 20 of the holster on the outer side of the holster and a second side wall 22 of the holster on the inner side of the holster. In the construction shown, the two edges of the folded piece of leather are sewn together by stitching 24 through a spacer strip 25. As shown in FIG. 1, the stitching 24 extends along the rear and bottom edges of the holster.

As best shown in FIG. 1, the first or outer side wall of the holster is cut away along its top edge to expose and make accessible a substantial portion of the revolver including the handle 10 and the trigger 15. The upper edge of the side wall is cut away to form a recess 26 in the region of the trigger guard 16 to make it possible for the user to finger the trigger 15 while the revolver is in the holster.

The holster may be adapted in any suitable manner for mounting on a belt or on a shoulder strap. For this purpose a piece of leather 28 of suitable size and shape may be attached to the outer surface of the second side wall 22. As shown in FIG. 3, the piece of leather 28 is anchored to the holster by upper stitching 30 and lower stitching 32 to form a flat loop 34 dimensioned to receive a belt or shoulder strap.

In the selected embodiment of the invention, the second or inner side wall 22 of the holster is provided with a liner 35 of leather or leather-like material so that the side wall is of a two-layer construction. The liner 35 which forms a part of the side wall 22 is formed with an offset which provides a curved sloping inner shoulder means, generally designated 40, to overhang and releasably engage the rim 42 of the rear end of the rotary cylinder 14 of the revolver. The curved sloping inner shoulder means formed by the offset is shown in longitudinal section in FIG. 3 a-nd in transverse section in FIG. 4 and is shown in plan view in FIG. 6.

The portion of the liner 35 that forms the offset is preferably provided with a rectangular aperture 44 to clear the thumb piece 18 of the revolver. As may be seen in FIGS. 1, 4 and 6, the rectangular aperture divides the shoulder means into two separate rounded sloping shoulders 40a.

Since it is essential that the shoulder means 40 be biased toward its normal position of engagement with the cylinder of the piston, it is desirable to incorporate a leaf spring in the holster construction for that purpose. Such a leaf spring 45 is shown in FIG. 2 as dimensioned to be placed longitudinally between the side wall 22 and the diner 35. For the purpose of reinforcing the inner shoulder means 40 of the liner, the leaf spring 45 is offset to form a shoulder means 46 that conform to an reinforces the inner shoulder means 40 of the side wall 22. Preferably, the offset region of the leaf spring 45 is formed with a rectangular aperture 48 that registers with the aperture 44 and divides the shoulder means 46 of the leaf spring into a pair of spaced inner shoulders 46a that correspond to the pair of inner shoulders 40a.

CII

The leaf spring 45 may be ad'hesively bonded or otherwise anchored in its assembled position.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 3, 5, and 6, the laminated wall structure comprising the side wall 22, the liner 35, and the interposed leaf spring 45 is extended upwardly in the form of a tongue 50 that lies alongside the handle 10 of the revolver. The tongue 50 serves as manual means for retracting the latch means, i.e., the two inner shoulders 40a for the purpose of releasing the revolver from the holster. By virtue of a desirable degree of stiffness that is given to t-he tongue 50 by the leaf spring 45, outward exure of the upper end of the tongue 50 by thumb pressure in the manner shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 is readily transmitted to the region of the two inner shoulders 40a to cause the two inner shoulders to move outwardly from their normal revolver-retaining positions.

As may be seen in FIGS. 1 and 3, the inner shoulders 40a at their effective latching positions overhang and engage the rim 42 of the revolver cylinder and since the holster is dimensioned to fit the cylinder 14 snugly from opposite sides as may be seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, the cylinder is effectively trapped and the curved sloping overhanging shoulders 40a are effective to retain the revolver in a positive manner with an effectiveness that is characteristic of a conventional latch means of angular configuration as distinguished from a curved sloping configuration. The important feature of the invention, however, is that if release flexure of the tongue 50 is merely initiated by thumb pressure without the thumb pressure retracting the inner shoulders 40a to any substantial extent, the revolver may then be forcibly withdrawn from the holster without further outward manual deflection of the tongue 50 because the rim 42 of the revolver cylinder 14 is capable of completing the retraction of the two inner shoulders by cam action against the shoulders.

In FIG. 5 the tongue 50 is not deflected sufficiently to retract the two inner shoulders 40a completely clear of the path of withdrawal of the revolver cylinder 14, but if the user pulls on the revolver with moderate force, the cylinder will cam the two inner shoulders 40a out of the way for complete release of the revolver. In fact, even if the tongue 50 is deflected to lesser degree than shown in FIG. 5, the revolver may be pulled to free itself by cam action.

The deflection of the tongue 50 by thumb pressure need be only momentary to make the cam action possible because if the revolver is withdrawn only slightly from the position shown in FIG. 5 to bring the rim of the cylinder in contact with the partially retracted inner shoulders 40a, the cylinder will keep the two inner shoulders displaced sufficiently t-o permit the cam action for complete retraction of the two shoulders. Thus, although the user of the revolver may intend in all instances to completely retract the two shoulders 40a by thumb pressure to the full extent shown in FIG. 6, failure to carry out the intention need not be serious so long as the users thumb makes sufficient contact with the tongue 50 to initiate retraction of the two inner shoulders sufciently to make the two inner shoulders responsive to the Withdrawal movement of the revolver.

It is apparent that the invention does make the latch means sensitive in the sense that only slight manipulation of the latch means is essential to prepare for drawing the revolver from the holster, but nevertheless, the revolver is effectively retained after such initial retraction unless the user deliberately overcomes the remaining latch resistance by cam action. In effect, the mechanism for retaining the revolver in the holster normally functions in the manner of a positive latch but only slight manual release pressure is required to convert the positive latch into a yieldable detent mechanism.

My description and specific detail of the presently preferred embodiment of the invention will suggest various changes, substitutions, and yother departures from my disclosure within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a holster for a revolver, the improvement comprising:

an inner wall of the holster having a portion defining a curved shoulder having a normal position wherein a portion of low slope overhangs and engages a part of the revolver,

the holster being internally dimensioned to confine the revolver against the normally positioned inner shoulder to cause the inner shoulder to retain the revolver securely in the holster, and

manually operable means for moving said inner wall portion to retract the inner wall and shoulder from its normal position towards a position wherein a portion of greater slope overhangs said part to thereby permit the revolver to be drawn from the holster,

said portion of greater slope being of a slope permitting continued retraction by cam action on the part of the revolver once the retraction of the inner shoulder is manually initiated and drawing of the revolver from the holster is initiated.

whereby the inner shoulder normally constitutes means for positive retention of the revolver but is converted by slig-ht retraction into a detent means for yielding retention of the revolver.

2. An improvement as set forth in claim 1 in which the surface lof the shoulder is formed by 'leather-like material.

3. In a holster for a revolver having a handle, a cylinder, and a trigger adjacent the cylinder, the improvement comprising:

a wall of the holster being offset to form inner shoulder means normally positioned to overhang and engage the rearward edge of the cylinder to retain the revolver in the holster,

said wall having a manually operable portion for manual deflection by the user to shift said inner shoulder means laterally away from its normal position towards a release position,

said inner shoulder means being rounded to permit manual pulling force on the revolver to cause the revolver cylinder to exert cam action on the inner shoulder means for continued retraction of the inner shoulder means after retraction has been initiated manually,

whereby said manually operable portion may be detlected merely enough to initiate retraction of the inner shoulder means out of engagement with the cylinder of the revolver and then completion of the retraction of the inner shoulder means by cam action out of engagement with the cylinder may be accomplished by pulling on the revolver to withdraw the revolver from the holster.

4. An improvement as set forth in claim 3 which includes leaf spring means incorporated in said wall to bias said inner shoulder means towards its normal position.

5. An improvement as set forth in claim 3 in which the leaf spring means extends longitudinally of the holster and is separated from the cylinder by a layer of non-metallic material.

6. An improvement as set forth in cl-aim 3 in which said revolver has a thumb piece located rearwardly of the cylinder to release the cylinder;

in which said wall is cut away to clear the thumb piece;

and in which said inner shoulder means comprises two inner shoulders on opposite sides respectively of the cut-away portion of the wall.

7. An improvement as set forth in claim 3 in which said wall of the holster comprises two layers of nonmetallic material with the leaf spring interposed between the two layers;

in which the inner layer is offset to form the rounded inner shoulder means;

and in which the leaf spring is offset to reinforce the inner shoulder means.

8. An improvement as set forth in claim 3 in which the surface of said shoulder means is formed by leatherlike material having a relatively high coecient of friction with respect to the metal surface of the cylinder of the revolver.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 468,556 2/ 1892 Anderson 224-2 1,113,530 10/1914 Audley 224-2 1,191,339 7/1916 Noye 224-2 1,547,800 7/ 1925 Franz 224-2 HUGO O. SCHULZ, Primary Examiner.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE 0E CORRECTION Patent No. 3 ,420,420 January 7 1969 Earl J. Clark pears in the above identified lt is certified that error ap are hereby corrected as patent and that said Letters Patent shown below:

Column 3, line 68, "conform to an should read conforms to and Column 6, line 33, before shoulder" insert inner Signed and sealed this 24th day of March 1970.

(SEAL) Attest:

WILLIAM E. SCHUYLER, IR.

Edward M. Fletcher, Jr.

Commissioner of Patents Attesting Officer 

